3 ways to give dishes a better-for-you spin

With consumers increasingly concerned with their health, operators have been working overtime to create delicious menu items that fit the better-for-you bill while still being craveable and delicious. One ingredient that’s helping them do so is Greek yogurt—and not just in the form of parfaits at breakfast. Rather, Greek yogurt can be used in the back-of-the-house to create recipes that are tasty and appealing, though lighter and with a protein-packed punch. Here’s how.

Refreshing salad dressings

Salads are the easy choice for diners who want something fresh and light, but often, dressings weigh these dishes down. However, operators can menu yogurt-based dressings for the health-conscious crowd. For instance, at Le Pain Quotidien, a European-style bakery chain with locations across the country, the Kale and Arugula Caesar Salad comes topped with a hard-boiled egg, parmesan, croutons and garlic yogurt Caesar dressing. This way, diners can indulge in the dishes they crave without abandoning their diets.

Lightened up pasta sauces

Dishes like fettuccini alfredo are known and loved for their creamy, indulgent taste. But for diners who want something a little lighter, this dish is usually off the table. Not so when chefs swap some (or all) of the cream with rich Greek yogurt. In fact, Greek yogurt can be a great substitute in an array of pasta dishes that call for heavy cream, and it can also be used as a sauce in its own right—mixed with herbs, garlic, and a squeeze of lemon, it livens up any angel hair or linguini dish.

Unique and tasty marinades

Yogurt makes for ultra-moist chicken dishes and is often used to marinate chicken in Indian cuisine. But it doesn’t need to be only for Indian dishes—yogurt can be used to marinate chicken, and other proteins such as shrimp, for any cuisine. For example, at India Pavilion, an Indian casual-dining restaurant in Cambridge, Mass., the Grilled Shrimp dish features shrimp dipped in yogurt marinade that is grilled over charcoals in a tandoor oven and is served with naan and mint yogurt.

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